Diva Challenge #268 Bit-O-Black - and SQ1 Fugu - with SKYE and a Story, and Yew-Dee Shading

Gentle Readers,

This week I will be brief!  I have a party coming up, and if you want to know what kind, witness the fruits of our quick wine run! :-)

Also, I spent the morning cooking up the custard for Gabrielle Hamilton's amazing brown sugar ice cream.  Last time I made it, people were practically licking out the container.  So good!  I have shopping, patio and lawn furniture washing and cooking left to do before Saturday afternoon, so not a lot of time for tangling. 

The latest buzz on the Zentangle boards is Margaret Bremner's new tangle SKYE.  It is not the easiest to draw - requires focus!  But every Bremner tangle involves strong blacks, so perfect for this week.  Also, I was getting it ready for Eni Oken's Shading Zentangle FB page when I saw the Diva Challenge.

DIVA CHALLENGE #268 - BIT-O-BLACK, AND SQ1 FUGU AND SKYE

OK, here is the STORY/CONFESSION time for this tile...  I was working on adding Fugu to the SKYE pattern I had drawn.  Fugu is the feature tangle for the SQ1 FB page.  I had practiced SKYE enough that I could put it on a "real" tile, and then was adding Fugu around and underneath it.  Oddly, it has quite a bit in common - shapewise - with Margaret Bremner's other recent tangle, Pixioze, so I thought it would work well.  Ah, relaxing Zentangle...until I fall asleep and the pen shoots across the tile leaving a very big "opportunity".  CONFESSION:  I decided, fie on the rules, it is my tile and I will just fix that little slip with a white gel pen just like Whiteout back in the old typewriter days!  So I did, and was reasonably satisfied with that.  I continued to work on the tile, and then realized, "hey, it's Monday!  Diva Challenge!" I had just been thinking that my tile needed some bold black and maybe the structure of a border treatment. 

Serendipity!  I decided the side of my tile would look great with a black fill.  I also decided my penance for disregarding the "no mistakes" rule was to add the black side-shot line back in and proceed from that point.  I didn't even finish filling in the Fugu shape as I had started.  This is my Amish Quilt mistake moment. 

So, here is my Bit-O-Black "opportunity"!

Last week the Shading Zentangle focus was Yew-Dee.  I gazed admiringly at what others were posting on Facebook, but just couldn't get my groove, as it were.  Finally, I was fooling around in the sketchbook and hit on something I liked.  I had fun shading both the individual elements and the bigger form.

So, Dear Readers, that is it for this week.  Thank you for stopping by and know that I cherish all your thoughts and comments.  If I am not completely undone by the festivities this weekend ;-), I will report back next week...

Namaste,
Antonine